Mattie Wells Elementary School former student, Jamaya Brown, recently graduated from the school and received an award for not missing any days since kindergarten.
Jamaya said she was surprised to get the award, but it was an extremely happy surprise. She said she’s excited to be going to Clifton Ridge Middle School when school starts back, and she hopes she doesn’t miss any days while she attends school there, too.
“I won an award at Mattie Wells for not missing any days from kindergarten through fifth grade, but it wasn’t easy. I was scared of getting sick and missing days of school,” she said. “I was really excited to get the award on honor’s day, which was the last day of school.”
The student said she has always lived in Jones County. Latonya Brown, Jamaya’s mother, said she hasn’t always lived in the county, but she enjoys the schools and community.
“I like Jones County, because I’m always excited to help the community. It’s a good community. I like all of the people who live here, and school has nice people,” Jamaya said.
Latonya said she was always afraid her daughter would call home sick, but she never did. She said she was very surprised Jamaya received an award for missing zero days of school, and she hopes her other children receive the same award in the future.
“I was so proud of her for going all of those days to school without missing even one day. It was hard sometimes to do, especially with students getting sick and her potentially getting sick,” she said. “She has always really enjoyed school, though.”
Jamaya said she really likes Mattie Wells Elementary School, because her teachers made learning fun and easy. She said she met a lot of people through the school, and she hopes students in the future do the same.
“I’ve enjoyed making friends at school, because it’s always nice to have people to talk to and do stuff with. I think I’m going to like middle school a lot, and I don’t think I’ll miss any days of school there,” she said.
Her mother said watching Jamaya receive her award was very special, and she’s a very proud mother. She said her daughter has come a long way with her education, and she looks forward to seeing her grow up into an independent and smart young lady.
“I’m definitely not ready to see her move on to middle school, but I’m glad she enjoys school so much and learning all she can. Her reading has improved so much over the years, and I love watching her grow up and take her education seriously,” the mother said.
The student said when she grows up she wants to be an astronaut, because she wants to visit the moon one day. She said she wants to find ways to help the planet in the future.
“I saw other people becoming astronauts and going to the moon, so I got really interested in it. I like science a lot,” she said. “You can make stuff with science, and it’s very important. Astronauts are important for Earth.”
